1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to lighters which consume fuel such as, for example, butane by converting the fuel to a gaseous state and thereafter burning the fuel. More particularly the invention relates to a disposable butane cigarette lighter having a safety mechanism which prevents a valve actuator from being depressed and in turn prevents a valve nozzle from expelling butane thereby rendering operation of the lighter by young children difficult.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various prior art lighters, some of them incorporating safety features, are known. Safety features are generally provided to reduce the risk of injury to an operator or bystanders. Some of such safety features relate to mechanisms which prevent ignition of a fuel source unless the lighter is properly oriented, mechanisms which automatically turn off a fuel source supply valve and tamper protection arrangements.
More recently, attention has been directed toward preventing ready actuation of such lighters by persons normally not able to appreciate the potential danger of the flame. Such danger includes the potential to burn the individual directly or to burn surrounding areas or items, thus creating the possibility of spreading to a fully developed fire. Individuals normally contemplated in these efforts are small children, mostly in the age category of five years or younger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,335 to Loveless relates to a cigarette lighter in which rotation of a spark-producing wheel is limited. In particular, the spark-producing wheel may be rotated in one direction to deliver a spark toward a nozzle through which gaseous fuel is passed, thereby operating the lighter and causing the fuel to ignite. Rotation of the spark-producing wheel in the other direction may deliver a spark away from the nozzle. The spark-producing wheel has a pin-shaped structure attached thereto which serves to limit the rotation of the wheel to under 360.about. by contacting the housing structure. Thus, whether a spark indeed is produced depends upon the direction of attempted rotation and the position of the pin-shaped structure relative to the housing structure. In theory, once the lighter is operated and the fuel ignited, and the pin-shaped structure has traversed its entire path of travel, subsequent operation of the lighter is impeded since the pin-shaped structure comes into contact with the housing, preventing a spark from occurring in the vicinity of the fuel nozzle.
In this lighter the pin-shaped structure may not have necessarily traversed its entire path of travel when the lighter is operated, in which case subsequent operation of the lighter may ignite the fuel source, presenting potential for multiple ignitions. Furthermore, even if the pin-shaped structure has traversed its entire path of travel, a young child may still ignite the fuel source by inadvertently first rotating the spark-producing wheel in a direction so as to not produce sparks in the vicinity of the nozzle and then rotating the wheel in an opposite direction so as to produce sparks in the vicinity of the nozzle and igniting the fuel. Additionally, regardless of the position of the wheel, potential exists for releasing fuel from the fuel source with or without rotation of the wheel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,043 and 4,049,370 each to Neyret relate to presale tamper protection mechanisms which partially surround a spark-producing wheel, fuel nozzle or depressable valve actuation member of a lighter. These presale tamper protection mechanisms are attached to the lighter housing by frangible webs and are removed by a purchaser after sale of the lighter to expose the spark-producing wheel, fuel nozzle and depressable valve actuation member. However, such a presale tamper protection mechanism is of limited value once initially removed by a purchaser.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,566 to Tamarin and U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,286 to Lockwood et al. relate to lighters having orientation sensing mechanisms which hinder or prevent actuation of the lighter in an inverted position. Unfortunately such mechanisms may not provide a sufficient degree of safety to young children who tamper with the lighter since they merely hinder operation in prescribed orientations.
In addition to the above-mentioned disadvantages and deficiencies, some safety mechanisms are unnecessarily complicated and may therefore suffer from high manufacturing cost as well as high likelihood of mechanical failure during use. Another disadvantage found in some of these devices is that the particular construction employed limits the shape of the lighter housing due to the requirement that the housing be large enough to accommodate the safety mechanism(s).
Although it is known to prevent or hinder presale actuation of a depressable valve actuation member or actuation of a lighter in a specified orientation, none of the above-described lighters provides a mechanism for preventing actuation of the depressable valve actuation member as the lighter is carried, stored or subjected to tamper. Prevention of the expulsion of fuel through the nozzle under such circumstances is a highly desirable feature since ignition may be provided by other sources in addition to the spark-producing wheel.
Although current efforts as described herein may sometimes be referred to as "child-proof lighters", "child-resistant lighters" or the like, it should be made clear that such developments are actually directed toward preventing ready flame production on a flame producing lighter by persons normally considered incapable of appreciating the potential danger of a lighter flame.
Consistent with such efforts is the recognition that to develop a "child-proof" lighter per se, would not be viable. At best it can be reasonably sought to create a lighter which is "child-resistant", but how "child-resistant" a lighter will be will depend upon related factors and circumstances. For example, it is known that lighters are specifically designed to produce a flame. Accordingly, if the lighter were to come into the possession of a person incapable of appreciating the potential danger of the flame a potentially dangerous situation will prevail. This situation would be independent of the operating condition of the lighter and would prevail even if the lighter is in perfect working order. Further, in many instances lighters contain clear written warnings prominently displayed on their surface and without proper supervision, a young child who gains possession of the lighter can cause harm by the fact that the warning will not be appreciated since it cannot be read and/or understood by the child. Accordingly, "child-resistant" efforts are best directed toward protecting the child from its own acts should the child come into possession of a lighter with or without the parents' knowledge or consent. The potential danger would prevail even if the lighter is a properly functioning lighter and has a clear warning displayed thereon advising the user to keep the lighter out of the reach of children.
Nevertheless, any such "child-resistant" lighter will have its limitations with respect to young children, and no such lighter should provide parents or adults with a false sense of security so that they may become less cautious in their handling or as to permitting ready access by young children. Further, such lighters should not be made so difficult to light as to cause adults to use alternative forms of lighting, i.e., matches, which are generally considered to be potentially more dangerous. At best, the lighter should provide a young child with sufficient deterrent features as to prevent it from readily producing a flame on the lighter or to deter it from readily producing a flame, at least for a time sufficient to permit the normally expected intervention of adult supervision.
The present invention is directed toward a flame producing lighter which is selectively actuatable in such a manner as to provide a substantial degree of difficulty for young children--mostly five years or younger--to actuate the lighter and produce a flame, while being capable of actuation by adults.